Since the founding of New China, China's participation in international organizations has gone through a long, difficult and complicated process. As a rising developing country, with the improvement of its economic strength, it is of great significance for China to actively participate in international social activities, join and learn to consult and cooperate with different international organizations, and form a certain right to speak in the process of participating in international systems, which will further develop itself and play a more active role in global and regional affairs.
(I) China's participation in international organizations
Before the 19th century, China had been relatively isolated from the rest of the world in a relatively isolated geopolitical environment in East Asia. In the mid-19th century, the European powers forcibly brought China into their dominant international system with their guns, and from then on, China's participation in the international system began a tortuous course. Since 1949, China's participation in the international system has been divided into four stages: relative independence, passive participation, partial participation, and full participation. Although China has wavered between consulting the international community and closing to the outside world in modern times, it has not stopped deepening its integration with the international system. China's comprehensive and active participation in the international system strategy is a historic choice.
In the relatively isolated stage (1949-197), after the founding of China by China's industrial party in 1949, the East and the West were in a state of cold war. The United States controlled and manipulated the United Nations and other international organizations, supported the Kuomintang government entrenched in Taiwan Province Island, and regarded China as a hostile country. China tried to restore its legitimate seat in the United Nations and establish contacts with other international organizations. For example, in 195s, we applied to the World Health Organization, the World Meteorological Organization, the International Labour Organization, the IMF, the World Bank and other global organizations, but they were all blocked. At that time, we only joined some international organizations and institutions in eastern bloc headed by the Soviet Union.
In the stage of passive participation (1971-1978), marked by the 26th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1971, China's legal seat in the United Nations, China's participation in international organizations entered a new era, but at this time, China still lingered between outsiders and insiders of international organizations, and the international image of passive and passive participants was very prominent. During this period, China focused on developing foreign political relations, with the emphasis on joining the political international system and the restoration of the permanent seat of the United Nations as a symbol. China gradually joined the specialized organizations and affiliated organizations of the United Nations, such as the United Nations Development Programme, the Industrial Development Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and established cooperative relations with the International Olympic Committee and the European Union. Generally speaking, the number of China's participation in international intergovernmental organizations during this period is not large (from one to 21), but after all, it has become a real participant in the international system, although the degree of participation is not enough and the attitude of participation is not positive. In 1977, China's participation in various types of international intergovernmental organizations (global and regional) was 25% of that of the United States, 3% of that of India, and about 7% of the world average (Jiang Yien, 1999).
the stage of partial participation (1979-1991), which was a period when China's domestic reform and opening-up policy promoted the development of brand-new relations between China and international organizations. During this period, China's participation in international organizations exceeded the previous two periods in quantity, enthusiasm and quality. In 198, China became a member of the IMF and the World Bank, and then gradually joined the World Intellectual Property Organization Treaty, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the Asian Development Bank. At this time, China was not only interested in general political, economic and cultural affairs, but also tried to enter the fields of arms control and disarmament, human rights, etc. For example, since 1979, China participated in the meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and became a member of it in 1982. Since 198, China began to participate in the United Nations Conference on Disarmament and gradually signed a series of disarmament and arms control documents and agreements, which was the first time that China emphasized the image of a responsible big country in international politics and security. Although the number of China's participation in the international system has increased significantly at this stage, on the whole, China's actions in the international system are passive. China rarely proposes constructive solutions, and more often makes statements of principle. China is not the agenda maker and lacks the awareness of participating in agenda creation.
In the stage of full participation (1992-present), in 1992, Deng Xiaoping's speech in South China became a new starting point for China's full opening to the outside world. After the previous course of participating in international organizations, China clearly realized that joining the international system is an important condition for breaking the siege and winning a responsible reputation, and its basic characteristics are comprehensiveness, strategy and long-term. On the international community or major global issues, China has become more and more integrated into the international system and more cooperative. For example, China signed the Biological and Chemical Weapons Convention, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, etc., took the initiative to accept the international restrictions on China's development of strategic weapons, joined the WTO, and actively revised the Copyright Law of the People's Republic of China, the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China, and the Trademark Law of the People's Republic of China. With the acceleration of China's economic development and political democratization, The declaration of "being a responsible big country in the international community" in 1997 is a clear strategic goal statement, which means that China's self-identity has undergone tremendous changes. The core identity of an independent big country centered on sovereignty is combined with the new identity of a responsible big country, which is directly related to the international system, and international behavior is increasingly regulated by the international system. Thus, a constructive and responsible international image goal is constructed in the interaction between China and the international system. In September 22, China, which is not a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol and has no targets and obligations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, announced its ratification of the Treaty, and its actions in nuclear test ban, environment, etc. became more and more active, gained great prestige, began to show the characteristics of an active participant, and its agenda-making ability was also improved. In the mid-196s, the number of international intergovernmental organizations that China joined was close to zero, but in the mid-199s, it rose to be close to developed countries and developing countries (such as India) that were very active in the international arena.
(II) China's participation in various international organizations
According to UIA (22-23), among the conventional international organizations that China currently participates in, there are 25 international organization alliances (Class A), except one IGO of the United Nations, the other 24 are all NGOs, and the global participation rate reaches 67.57%; There are 372 international organizations (Class B) in China, of which 92% are NGOs and 8% are IGOs, and the global participation rate is 73.66%, which is the highest sub-category. Participated in 548 intercontinental international organizations (Class C), with 98% for NGOs and 2% for IGOs, and the global participation rate was 5.74%; There are 57 regional international organizations (Class D) participating, of which only 5 are IGOs, most of which are NGOs, with a global participation rate of 9.75%. On the whole, China's participation rate (58.23%) in global agreement international organizations (A-C and) exceeds that of regional agreement international organizations. China's extensive participation in international organizations generally only refers to its participation in the global intergovernmental international organization IGOs.
among other types of international organizations, there are 392 IO(E (e-type) in China, including 113 IGOs and 279 NGOs, accounting for 12.32% of the world. There are 726 special international organizations (Class F) including funds, 114 IGOs and 612 NGOs respectively, with a global participation rate of 15.95%. There are 134 domestic organizations (Class G) oriented to international affairs, of which two are IGOs, mostly NGOs, with a global participation rate of 2.34%. There are 216 internal organizations or affiliated institutions (category K) of international organizations, 194 of which are NGOs, with a global participation rate of 1.95%; There are only 31 NGOs participating in religious (R-type) organizations, with a global participation rate of 3.43%. Comparatively speaking, China has the highest participation rate in international organizations with global agreements, especially intercontinental international organizations. On the other hand, in the participation of non-conventional international organizations, the participation rate of internal or affiliated institutions participating in international organizations and special international organizations including funds is relatively high.
in terms of China's participation in IGOs and NGOs, except for the international organization alliance (category A), universal international organization (category B) and international organization originating from a specific region, person or product ownership (category E), the global participation rate of IGOs exceeds that of IGOs in other categories. Generally speaking, China's participation rate in global NGOs exceeds that of IGOs.
in p>23, China participated in 41 global conventional IGOs with international significance and the highest status and influence among international organizations, accounting for 91.11% of that of the United States, while in 1996, China was only 7% of that of the United States, which shows that China has fully participated in international organizations in recent years. Compared with India (45 countries), Japan (49 countries), South Korea (42 countries) and Russia (44 countries) in Asia, China's participation level is slightly inferior to them and close to their level. In general, including various types of IGOs, the United States has considerable advantages. The participation rate of China is 69.23%, which is significantly lower than the relative participation of global IGOs. Among the countries participating in the comparison, it is higher than that of South Korea (62.24%) and lower than that of India (71.1%), Japan (78.9%) and Russia (87.41%). Among all kinds of NGOs, the United States has considerable advantages. The participation rate of China is 44.21% of that of the United States, which is lower than the relative participation of all IGOs. Among the countries participating in the comparison, it is higher than that of South Korea (42.61%) and lower than that of India (63.4%), Japan (72.75%) and Russia (59.41%). Therefore, compared with the United States, among all kinds of international organizations, China has the highest enthusiasm for participating in global IGOs, and its enthusiasm for participating in IGOs is higher than that for participating in NGOs.
in the participation of regional international organizations, China's participation in NGOs is higher than that of IGOs. China's participation in regional negotiated IGOs (5) is not only far lower than that of the more active Middle East countries in Asia, such as Jordan and Yemen (2), but also lower than that of Malaysia (11), Thailand, India and Japan (1), Indonesia (9), South Korea (7) and Vietnam (6). However, China's participation in regional agreed NGOs (52) is only lower than that of Japan (989), Israel (82) and India (637), and higher than that of South Korea (198) and other Asian countries. Generally speaking, China's participation in regional international organizations is still weak compared with its economic status.
Up to now, China has participated in many international organizations, especially intergovernmental organizations with global agreements. However, China's participation in international organizations, whether intergovernmental organizations or non-governmental organizations, is mostly follower-oriented, with little initiative, which can be reflected from the participation of countries where international organizations are headquartered. Among global agreements, none of intergovernmental international organizations is headquartered in China, and only nine of non-governmental organizations are located in China. Among other types of international intergovernmental organizations, so far, no important intergovernmental organization in which China participates is headquartered in China, and there is not even a regional office. There is only one in the F category, that is, the International Straw Fabric Union, which was established in the mid-199s. Tens of thousands of NGOs have only 42 headquarters in China.
There are many comments on China's position in intergovernmental international organizations. Domestic representatives hold that, except for the characteristics of less active participation and more passive participation, China has played a limited role in the international organizations that it has participated in, and its influence is not strong. Although China has a certain position in the Security Council, on the whole, it is difficult for China to enter the mainstream of decision-making in most international organizations, play a core role, and it is not active enough in international organizations, and its competitiveness is not strong. Jiang Yien (26) summed up the views of most American experts, and thought that the main features of China's participation in international organizations are: it is becoming an active participant in international organizations more and more, but the way of participating in international organizations is relatively passive, China has limited acceptance of treaties that limit its relative strength, and China pays attention to its international image in international organizations. Generally speaking, China accepted the international rules, and in the participation of international organizations, it generally experienced the role change process from "opponent of the system" to "reformer of the system" and then to "defender of the system".
China's participation in international non-governmental organizations is even more complicated. NGOs in China are closely related to the government, with government-sponsored NGOs taking the lead, such as All-China Women's Federation, China Disabled Persons' Federation, China Youth Development Foundation and chinese association for international understanding, etc. In fact, there are few NGOs in China that meet western standards. In practice, they often show dislocation with the government, more cooperation with the government, less division of labor, more subordination and less self-reliance. Of course, in recent years, many NGOs have come from civil society, such as "global village" and "green river", which were established with the support of some relevant international organizations or spontaneously formed by citizens and belong to grassroots NGOs. For the development of these organizations, there are many problems at present, such as imperfect relevant laws and regulations and complicated background. At present, there is no truly complete legal text on the supervision of NGOs in China. NGOs itself even has the characteristics of commercial operation, and its self-survival and development are weak. It should be said that China's real social participation in the international community is still very limited.
generally speaking, China, as a rising developing country, with the improvement of its economic strength, conforms to the trend of globalization and actively participates in international social activities, which is an inevitable choice of historical development. It is of great significance for China to learn to negotiate and cooperate with different international organizations and form certain initiative and decision-making power in the process of participating in international systems.